Man battling brain cancer gets his wish

A local man diagnosed with brain cancer gets his wish granted.Ryan Smigiel, 24, had a wish to cook a dinner fo...

Posted: Mar. 4, 2018 6:20 PM

A local man diagnosed with brain cancer gets his wish granted.

Ryan Smigiel, 24, had a wish to cook a dinner for his family.

"I like to cook and it all just fell into place," Ryan said.

Ryan's been battling brain cancer for more than three years.

He hasn't asked for much, all he wants is to cook alongside a gourmet chef, something his family wasn't surprised to hear.

"One of his favorite things to do is to give back to people," said Edward Switek, Ryan's brother-in-law. "He's very generous and he does that through cooking it's one of his favorite things to do I mean this guy makes some of the best scallops you will ever eat."

Even though Ryan's cancer has progressed, he's still whipping up meals from his wheelchair, something Heartland Hospice says helps him cope.

So when Heartland heard that's all Ryan wanted, they reached out to Saginaw Executive Chef Brad Valley to make it happen.

Chef Ryan chose and customized his very own menu for dozens of his friends and family to enjoy.

"He wanted like sweet roasted carrots so we're doing up some brown sugar and garlic roasted carrots," said Valley.

Along with shrimp skewers, jerk chicken, and rice.

But Valley said it's about much more than just the food.

"I love to be in a kitchen, cooking, giving, and sharing but to be able to share on this level I think just makes me confident in what I chose to be in life," Valley said.

While the meal was five stars, Switek said coming together to celebrate Ryan's life and spirit was the best part.

"He's been the one to make light of everything and to keep us laughing and keep us going," Switek said. "He's the rock and he's the glue. It's spectacular that everybody is banding together to give back to him."

If you would like to help Ryan in his fight against cancer, you can visit his GoFundMe page.